Is this only for "Inline Skaters"?

We welcome all kinda folks, inlcuding skateboarders, bicyclists, old-school "quad-skaters", and we even had a guy come out on a razor scooter once... he didn't come back but still, we were glad to have him show up once anyhow. I know a guy who said he wanted to come out and run with us, but he never did.

As a rule, bikes won't have much trouble keeping up. Skateboarders fare better if they're the longboard types, but they usually only come out on the downhill runs, like the Noho, Hollywood and Pasadena to downtown LA routes.

Where Do We Skate?

Generally speaking, we skate around downtown. Mostly we skate in the streets and sidewalks, but we often wind up in parking garages, parking lots, parks, skate parks and other parky-type places (like the LARP and the AroyoSeco Path). We skate up and down hills. We skate through stores. Sometimes we even skate on the dirt.

Why Do We Skate?

Reason for showing up vary. Meeting new friends, getting some fresh air, getting a workout, training for a race, not training for anything, got nothing else to do, just visiting, you know... pretty much anything can be a reason to go skate!

How Far Do We Skate?

The longest stakes we've done are less than 20 miles, and the average is 11-13 miles. We occassionally skate much less distance than that, especially if we get involved with something fun like a good parking garage or a really hot bartender.

There are a lot of places we go to that have earned monikers, either rightly or by our sly wit, and we know those may not mean anything to most folks. This page is where we put information about these items, unless the item gets it's own article.

Jose Antonio Carrillo, one time "Alcalde" (Mayor) of Los Angeles, issued this land grant to Antonio Jose Rocha and Nemisio Dominguez (not from Rancho San Pedro). The building is also known as the Gilmore Adobe. The land grant included the La Brea Tar Pits. The building is a private office. The adobe building can be found inside the back parking lot and is encompassed by the Los Angeles Farmers Market.

In the 1870's, with a partner, Arthur Fremont Gilmore purchased two ranches in the Los Angeles vicinity. The purchase inaugurated a string of serendipitous events which not even the far-sighted Gilmore could predict. When Gilmore and his partner elected to dissolve their arrangement, they drew straws - Gilmore's straw secured 256 acres on which he created a successful dairy farm. A.F. Gilmore had no plans for a world-renowned institution when he moved to Los Angeles from Illinois in 1870. Rather, he was seeking a better life on the promising West Coast. When he married Mary Elizabeth Bell in 1882, the small adobe on the property became the new home for his family.

The Spadena House, also known as The Witch's House, is a storybook house in Beverly Hills, California. Located on the corner of Walden Drive and Carmelita, it is known for its fanciful design that intentionally cause it to look dilapidated and old, and is a landmark included on tours of the area.

Today's little journey on the way-back machine takes us to a little bridge that is no more. You may have noticed the "Stonehenge of SilverLake" along the side of Fletcher St. just west of Riverside Drive. They sit as a silent testimony to the public transport that is no more, the defunct Pacific Electric Railway (PER).

(Most of this article is lifted from the fantastic "Red Car Property" blog. It's a great resource for anyone looking for more informatiion about the Corralitas part of Silverlake, and the greenspaces around it.)

The earliest depiction which has been located of Glendale Airport was on a illustration of circa-1925 LA-area airfields from Ross Diehl's Air National Guard yearbook (courtesy of Dan MacPherson). During the first couple of years of the 1920s, a group of airplane owners made an appeal to the Glendale Chamber of Commerce to assist them in securing a landing field where private hangars could be erected, as well as servicing facilities & manufacture of aircraft.

A Chamber committee consisting of approached John D. Radcliffe, a property owner who had a 33 acre site south of the Southern Pacific right-of-way and at the southern end of Grandview Avenue (now where the Golden State Freeway and Ventura Freeway meet), about purchasing his property. The site was purchased in 1922 for $66,000.

Leimert Park, built in the 1920's & 30's, is one of several LA neighborhoods known as models of modern urban planning. It was designed by the Olmsted brothers, whose father is known for designing Central Park in New York. It is known for its design innovations, like making sure that automobile traffic near schools and churches was minimized, utility wires were buried or hidden from view in alleys, and of course densely planted trees lined its streets. Walter Leimert, its developer, envisioned a self-sufficient community, with a town square, theatre and retail shopping. Leimert Park became a desirable community and one of the first to have a Home Owners' Association.

Lots of our skating routes take in places in Los Angeles which have various signifcances. Buildings old and new, bridges, neighborhoods, rivers and parks all have history, and many of the places people on TNS get familiar with have a rich history.

Many times skaters on TNS will tell us, "I've lived here for (XX years) and I never knew this was here." What will you discover on TNS?